The lady and I had been jonesing for a mountain bike getaway. A good escape, camp, and ride however much we want kind of trip. With her school schedule offering a spring break, the stage was set. However, rain was threatening our plans once again. I set a radius of about 8 hours early on, and began monitoring the weather and trail conditions everywhere within that zone. Muddy, muddy, rain all week, thunderstorms, etc. We bided our time with some yoga and climbing gym visits until the final moment of truth, Wednesday night. The decision was made to prep and load up, ready to roll after calling some ranger stations and locals. Arkansas was out, south Texas was out, all the local stuff was drenched, but Palo Duro was primo. Let’s go.
Located just south of Amarillo, Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon and one of the busiest state parks in the nation. We’d underestimated the second part, but more on that later. The 6 hour drive out there is anything but scenic, but we’re familiar as it is the first leg of our drive to anywhere in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, etc. After a half day listening to Tina Fey’s audiobook and seeing nothing, the ground opens up into a giant red dirt hole with boulders, washouts, and all kinds of desert ecology and wildlife. Very nice park, easy to navigate, and a beautiful canyon. We drove through to get our bearings and find the trailheads, making sure to make the biggest splash possible at every low water crossing.
In the short prep time for this trip, we were able to recon close to 30 miles of trail, as well as hundreds of bouldering routes. There were also some trad climbs available, and opportunities to rappel, so we packed the climbing gear and crash pad. I’m sad to say that the crash pad only served camp couch duty. We were simply too cashed at the end of our ride each day to do much more than scrambling. Our recon also came up short on camping sites. The state park was full with little to no hope of openings, but luckily the zipline park next door had plenty of room. We scored an open field tent site on the rim of the canyon for cheap, which was great until you realized just how much trash was strewn all over, someone took a dump 30 feet from our camp site, and Duncan’s gang of shitty kids rolled in on Saturday.
The riding was phenomenal. We rambled all over, enjoying the GSL trail all the way out to the lighthouse formation eventually. There was some mud in the very bottom of the canyon, but it was passable. The lighthouse formation was impressive, and offered a very entertaining scramble up to it and Castle Peak. A good visit was had before we hit the trails again. It would be wise to avoid the Lighthouse Trail as much as possible if on a bike. It was crowded with hikers, tourists, and poor dogs and elderly about to stroke out from underestimating the distance. Take it easy and do lots of yielding if you find yourself on a section of this one. On the other hand, the Capitol Peak Trail was a blast. Little to no traffic and lots of great singletrack. There are several other trails in the park, just keep in mind that the closer it is to the road or camps, the more foot traffic there will be. Our personal favorite was Juniper Cliffside heading south-ish. It was a blast with some great flowing trail and ledgy downhills. The only trail we backed out of was about 3/4 the way up Rock Graden. It was steep and rocky with a lot of ups and downs that the lady wasn’t enjoying. Maybe if we’d hit it fresh, but in our state we opted for the others. The descent could have been a rowdy good time, but there were lots of hikers along the way.
Overall, it was exactly what we needed. A great getaway and some excellent miles aboard the new bikes. The Trading Post inside the park was handy each day for grabbing some extra water and junk food rewards. Word is their burgers are amazing, but we had our meals back at camp. If we were doing this trip again, we would definitely plan ahead better and get a site inside the park. There’s not really anywhere to escape the crowds this time of year, but it would be worth a try. I’d also aim for shoulder season planning- don’t forget it’s a big hole in the desert. Heat can be brutal, as well as the wind up on the rim of the canyon. Bring lots of water, sunscreen, and have a good time!
Tao of Scratch 